SOURCE: TIMES NOW
Debris of MiG-29K has been located in the Arabian Sea during the search operation carried out by the Indian Navy. However, there is no sign of missing pilot Commander Nishant Singh and the search operation is on. “Some debris of the aircraft including landing gear, turbocharger, fuel tank engine and wing engine cowling were located,” the Indian Navy said in its statement.
In addition to nine warships and 14 aircraft engaged in search efforts, Indian Navy’s Fast Interceptor Craft are also deployed to search waters along the coast.
Fast Interceptor Craft are also deployed
Apart from that, the Marine and Coastal police are on the lookout and nearby fishing villages have been sensitized.
“Indian Navy’s search and rescue effort to locate the second pilot of the MiG-29K trainer aircraft which ditched off Goa on 26 Nov continues with extensive deployment of naval ships and aircraft,” the statement read.
Commander Nishant Singh has been missing since a MiG-29K fighter aircraft of the Indian Navy crashed into the Arabian Sea.
The Indian Navy has pressed more surface and air assets for the search of the missing pilot.
The MiG-29k went down at around 5 pm on Thursday
The Russian-origin jet had taken off from aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and went down at around 5 PM on Thursday, ANI quoted officials as saying.
One pilot of the aircraft had been rescued while search operation is on for Commander Singh.
The Indian Navy had procured a fleet of 45 MiG-29Ks from Russia over a decade back at a cost of around USD 2 billion to operate from INS Vikramaditya.
An all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft, the MiG-29K has been developed by Russian aerospace company Mikoyan (MiG).
